Hugo High
by Rainbow-Bunnii
Summary: A modern day multi chapter about the guys and girls attending high school, that me and 'WeAllHaveAnEscape' wrote together. I'm going to go ahead and rate it T if anything should come up in later chapters, and it might, considering it's high school.
1. Chapter 1

******Authors note: Hi hi! Rainbow-Bunnii here! So, me and 'WeAllHaveAnEscape' (formally 'SociallyAwkwardUnicorn) have decided we will write a modern day AU Les Misérables fic together, and this great chapter was written by her! Everything below this line she has written, so please review to tell her your feedback! Next chapter I will have written.**

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A/N: Why hello there, my dear reader chums, as we start this literary journey together. Chapter brought to you by WeAllHaveAnEscape, so I hope you lovely people enjoy. Reviews appreciated :)

As a side note, I have no idea what Saint Michel is like today. I know it's probably nothing like my description of it, so if you live there I'm sorry, but I needed somewhere like that description for Éponine to live in :)

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Marius grinned, looking up at the tall stone building in front of him.

He was here. He was actually here. L'académie de Victor Hugo, or as the students called it, Hugo High. It was easier, he supposed.

His grandfather had wanted him to go to a top-notch private sixth form in Toulon, but they had not offered a law course, which had been his main reason for refusing. He'd been studying it up until then, so why stop now?

No. He didn't have to stop. He had a flat here, and a school to go to. He'd make friends. There was a good amount of country and city. He'd be happy.

Walking through the crystallised glass doors to the reception, he walked up to the counter. A small, thin-lipped woman glanced over at him, pen in hand and glasses on top of brown, slightly curly hair.

"And you are?"

"Marius Pontmercy, starting today."

"So, Monsieur Pontmercy, you have your registration forms?"

"I do" Marius replied, fishing said forms out of his bag. They were slightly crumpled but in reasonable condition, and the woman nodded, scanning something and putting them in a filing cabinet.

She looked around at the students hanging around there, eyes fixing on a small group. "Éponine!" she called, and a girl whipped her head around. She walked over to the counter, Marius watching.

She was quite tall, at about 5'7. Her hair was a deep brown and not in the best of conditions, her skin pale. She had on a slightly faded pair of black leggings, and a worn t-shirt under an unzipped green hoodie. But what he first noticed was her size.

She was thin. Too thin. Not in the schoolgirl slim figure way, but properly thin. He suspected he'd be able to wrap his hand completely around her wrist, no question. He could see a bold outline of her collar bone peeking out from under her rather worn shirt. This was rather obviously more than a teenage girl trying to keep a good figure.

Marius had always been a good judge of character, and was rather good at gaining knowledge about people's situations. But in this case, he decided not to try, and focus on the girl herself, at least for now.

She had a very pretty face, there was no denying that - dark brown eyes, a nice smile and adorable dimples. Her dimples were pretty deep, clearly a well-known feature. She seemed happy enough, walking up to where she had been called.

"This is Marius, new today, in your form. Thought you could show him around, you know this place better than anyone else does."

She nodded, turning to face him and giving a smile, dimples coming out. He smiled back, holding out a hand for her to shake. "Éponine Thénardier" she introduced herself, and he recognised what was clearly an accent of one who had been born and raised in Paris. Being much further down in the south, not far from Toulon in Digne, his accent was very slightly different, although somebody who did not speak French would never have noticed.

Despite her somewhat frail appearance, he could already tell she was most definitely not a frail person. "Marius Pontmercy" he introduced himself, giving her another smile.

"So, M'sieur, where you from? That's not a Paris accent, I can tell."

"Born and raised in Digne, near Toulon."

"Ah, from the south? Not bad. I'm in Saint Michel. Where abouts in Digne?"

He recognised the name of Saint Michel. It was the poorest part of Paris, where you could practically smell the desperation. Most of the houses were crumbling and unsanitary, although the people themselves weren't too bad. Éponine to him was an example of these people, living in poverty and yet remaining reasonably upbeat, at least on the outside.

"Rue Juiverie, near the centre of the town."

"Nice. I'll give you a quick intro to my group and a tour? Got another ten minutes until registration, and I can ask 'Chetta to let Sir know."

Marius nodded, feeling a little overwhelmed but going with things. Éponine led him over to the group she'd been standing with, who were watching them with interest.

"Who's the fella, Ép?"

"Gavroche, get to class. Your lot went in ten minutes ago."

The small boy - twelve, perhaps - scampered off. "My little brother, Gavroche" Éponine informed him, turning to the rest of the group.

"This is Marius Pontmercy. He's in me, Courf and 'Chetta's form."

The group nodded, muttering their greetings. It was predominantly male, with two females not including Éponine, and they seemed to get on.

"Enjolras, Grantaire, Bossuet, Musichetta, Courfeyrac, Combeferre, Cosette, Joly and Jehan" she said, pointing to each in turn. "Introduce you properly at lunch, we've for a tour to go on. 'Chetta, can you explain to Sir if we're late?"

"Sure" replied a girl in a hat, who Éponine had called Musichetta. She was small - 5'3 perhaps - with brown hair and a couple of freckles. What piqued Marius' curiosity though was how the man he recognised as Bossuet had his arm around her waist, and yet she was holding the hand of Joly tightly. Perhaps they were in a polygamous relationship? He'd have to ask Éponine.

The halls were fairly quiet as they walked, footsteps echoing. Éponine pointed out various classrooms along the way, Marius taking it all in. "So, 'Ponine" he said, giving her a nickname without even realising it. "I mean Éponine."

"'Ponine's fine. Nobody's ever given me a nickname before, apart from Ép, but that's only with my siblings. You can call me that, if you want. Only you though. I don't like it when other people claim nicknames someone else made up."

"'Ponine it is then. I was wondering about Musichetta, Joly and the bald one?"

"Mm? They're in a three way relationship, all dating each other, and the bald one is Bossuet. He had alopecia when he was younger so it's probably best not to call him that."

"Oh gosh, I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"Not at all. I don't spread info. What you say to me stays with me. Won't tell a soul, I won't."

He nodded, smiling. She was clearly a nice girl, if a bit rough around the edges. "Okay. So, they're in a three way relationship?"

"Yeah. Even if you're not comfortable, don't tell them. Joly might get offended and 'Chetta won't thank you for it."

"No, doesn't bother me. My grandfather would have a fit, but I don't think there's an issue. Their lives."

"Oh, thank God. That's how our group works. We don't want people who judge other people. Don't make a good environment for us - we're all against any kind of discrimination. We leave them alone."

"That's a good opinion to have, I think."

"We try" she grinned, looking up at him as they passed a door. "Want to see the field quickly?"

"Sure. I love running."

"Me too. Perhaps we should run together some time."

"I'd like that."

He followed her through outside, marvelling at how quickly he'd seemed to make a friend. She seemed like a very open-minded person, although if she didn't like you, you'd know it.

She showed him the tennis courts and football pitch, before finally, the track. "Quick race?"

"Oh, you're on."

She stopped to take off her shoes, slightly worn down slip-ons, and waited for him. "Three, two, one-go!"

Both took off at a fast pace. Éponine was exceptionally speedy, already surging ahead of him. She was focused, too, not looking back at her competition.  
3 hours ago

He increased his speed to the max, catching up. She looked at him, gave him a cheeky wink, and sped up herself, until she'd crossed the hundred-metre line and slowed, panting. "Not bad, M'sieur" she said to him, stretching. He was fairly out of breath, nodding. "You're fast."

"I have to be" she replied simply, offering no explanation. He didn't want to ask, not wanting to damage the sort-of trust they seemed to have built up in the short space of time they'd been acquainted.

"So, is running what you want to do?"

"As a career? No."

"Oh. Any plans?"

Éponine's face softened. "Acting" she said, a small smile on her face. The smile disappeared as she looked at him. "Don't tell the others though. I don't know why I told you. I just...I just want to keep it to myself, yeah?"

"Of course. What you tell me stays with me, like you said."

She nodded, giving a brighter smile as she put her shoes back on.

"Why do you run barefoot?"

"Not sure. I spend most of my time wearing shoes, so I like going without when I'm doing something I enjoy. What do you want to do, by the way?"

"Law. Always wanted to be a lawyer."

"Justice, eh? Good for you. Good for the people, high-paying...that reminds me, got somewhere to live?"

"Yep. A flat nearby, on the Rue le Brun."

"Nice, good place around there."

"It is. So, where to next?"

"Seen the art corridor yet?"

"No."

"We'll head there then, also got history and geography along the way."

After Éponine had sorted out a loose flap on one of her shoes, she led the way back to another corridor. "So, Monsieur" she began.

"Don't call me Monsieur. Marius, please."

"Okay, so Marius, I've spent ten minutes showing you around and hardly know anything about you."

"Likewise."

"So. Favourite book series?"

He quickly caught on to what she was doing, and began to think up questions "Sherlock Holmes. Siblings?"

"Four, two here and two somewhere near Calais. Favourite song?"

"No idea. Favourite mode of transport?"

"Walking. Favourite subject?"

"History. Favourite television show?"

"Don't have a TV. Though there's some English show I saw an episode of, Doctor-something - some time travelling man in a police box. I didn't really get it either. Relationship status?"

"Single. Any pets?"

"None. Theatre or film?"

"Hmm...both."

"That's not an answer."

"Reply to a question. It's an answer."

Éponine rolled her eyes with a smile. She introduced each room, taking time on the history one. She was surprised at how quickly they seemed to have bonded - even with Courfeyrac, who she would instantly call her best friend, it had taken longer.

"Anyway, you asked me so I can ask you, single?"

"Yep. Favourite Harry Potter book?"

"Philosopher's Stone, yours?"

"Order of the Phoenix and Deathly Hallows. I can't choose."

"Have you ever seen the films?"

"Never."

Marius was fairly surprised at this, but didn't let it show, not wanting to make her embarrassed. "You'll have to come to mine one day and watch them."

She grinned at him again. "That'd be great, thanks."

"No problem. So, Éponine Thénardier who likes walking, has four siblings, with no pets, hasn't seen the Harry Potter films and loves Order of the Phoenix and Deathly Hallows, where to next?"

"Ah, Marius Pontmercy, who likes Sherlock Holmes, loves history, loves the Philosophers Stone, enjoys both theatre and film and has all the Harry Potter films on DVD, I think I should show you the library before we have to return to class."

"Musichetta will have explained, won't she?"

"She will. Courfeyrac too if she was struggling, the teachers like him."

"Who's Courfeyrac?"

"My close friend, curly hair, freckles, good friends with Combeferre, had about seventeen non-serious girlfriends since he started here. He's not a heart-breaker or anything, they're only flings, but that's Courfeyrac for you."

"Oh, I remember now. Seventeen? He gets around alright. Who's Combeferre?"

"Brownish hair, no freckles, blue eyes, was standing next to Courf earlier."

"Oh, I think I know who you mean. So, there's Joly, Musichetta and Bossuet in a relationship, anybody else?"

"Well, everyone except her knows Jehan is crazy for Cosette. We're pretty sure she likes him too, but she's quite quiet so it's hard to tell. He's the one with glasses holding a notepad, and she's the blonde."

"Okay. Any others?"

"We think Grantaire - he's the one always with a bottle of supposed water but more likely something else, curly, dark brown hair - has a thing for Enjolras, the black-haired guy, but he'd never admit it in a thousand years. It's still not certain he does."

He nodded as Éponine opened the door in to the library.

It was big - bigger than he expected. Shelves everywhere, and a row of computers down one side. She showed him each different section, telling him if he wanted to take any out now then he could. She went straight to the 'fiction' section, but instead of looking at the shelf, she removed two loose bricks and took a book out from there, tucking it under her arm.

"If I want to reserve a book when I've already got the limit I put it there" she explained, heading over to the counter. There was no librarian there, so she simply checked it out herself. "Would you mind?" she asked him, gesturing to his bag. It was then he realised she didn't have one, just a pen tucked behind her ear. "No, not at all" he replied, taking it from her and placing it in his bag. "Anything you need me to keep or lend you, let me know."

"Too kind. I feel like I've known you longer than today."

"I know. Strange, isn't it?"

She nodded with a smile. "I think I know where to take you next."

"Mm?"

"The room used for law studies" she replied, turning on her heel and holding the door open for him, before she set off down the corridor. "Well, come on then" she called, grinning and turning around again.

Marius smiled, following. A school, a home, and now a friend. Already, he felt like he'd proven his grandfather wrong. He would be happy here. He'd get a good education in his chosen subjects.

And he knew in his gut it was going to be worth it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors note: I wrote this chapter. That's all I really have to say. OH, actually, it isn't. Went to town yesterday and had a tiny bit of a spending spree. Got a new handbag, some earrings and books, sunglasses, and, prepare to get really jealous; A bottle of water. Prepare to get really welljell, IT WAS PEACH FLAVOUR. Then today, I found two rings which I loved but lost, and got my hair cut into a style that kinda suits me. **

**I got a bit stuck at one point, so 'WeAllHaveAnEscape' helped me out. She wrote from Azelma's entrance to, the "This is my sister" part.**

**Disclaimer: **

**(Eponine ties Rainbow-Bunnii into a chair and tapes her mouth shut).**

**Eponine: Bunnii here has been trying to say she owns Les Miz. I am here to tell you, she does not. **

**OH BEFORE I FORGET: I know 'Eponine' should have an accent over the first 'E', but I have no idea how to do them on my grandparent's computer.**

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Eponine stood with her clique, by the door of their class, art. She beckoned Marius to come over.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"You'll see," Eponine replied. She held up Cosette's arm, glancing at her watch. "Thirty seconds to go."

Marius gave Eponine a confused glance, but didn't question her. Thirty seconds they waited, until the lunch bell rang.

"NOW!" Eponine screamed, as the whole group sprinted out of the classroom and down the corridor. Various people pushed and shoved, trying to make their way through the narrow corridor. They sprinted down the steps, racing to get to the lunch hall. Marius was rather amused about all of this, but by the looks on the other peoples faces, this was no laughing matter.

"Getting a seat at the lunch hall is very serious business." Eponine explained to him. Marius stifled a laugh, and followed Eponine. They ran outside, down more steps, until they approached the hall. Eponine managed to find a table in the middle, and Marius sat in between Eponine and Cosette.

"Okay, so, I'll introduce you properly to everyone," Eponine told Marius. "Cosette, Marius. Marius, Cosette. Courfeyrac, Marius. Marius, Courfeyrac. Jehan, Marius. Marius, Jehan. Grantaire, Marius. Marius, Grantaire. Enjolras, Marius. Marius, Enjolras. Musichetta, Marius. Marius, Musichetta. Joly, Marius. Marius, Joly. Bousett, Marius,. Marius, Bousett- OH GOD I NEED TO BREATHE!" Marius laughed at how she could say that without taking a breath. Everybody took out their lunches and started to eat, accept Eponine, who took out a book instead.

"What are you reading?"

"Oh, just a play."

"Romeo and Juliet." Marius stated, looking at the cover of the play.

"Yeah."

"Don't you eat anything?"

"Oh, um, I'm hardly hungry."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I-I don't eat that much. I'm fine. H-honestly."

"Okay. ...So, do you have any other siblings, other then Gavroche?"

"Yes, actually. A sister named Azelma. In year seven, same as 'Roche. They look out for eachother. ...Well, they better, or else." Marius laughed.

"So," Marius said, taking a bite of his sandwich. "You said you had two others, near Calais?"

"Yes. Jean and Jaq, twins. They're in foster care, which is why they don't come here."

"Oh, sorry. I seem to be saying a lot of the wrong things today" he replied apologetically. Eponine shook her head. "It's okay. They're happy, and I don't think having siblings in care is anything to be ashamed of."

"That's true. Are you sure you're not hungry?"

"Sure."

"Not even for half my sandwich?"

"You're too kind, but I'm alright, honestly."

Marius gave her a small smile, taking another bite. Eponine was about to say something else when a small, almost bird-like girl came jogging towards her. "Ep!"

"Oh, hi 'Zelma. What is it?"

"I can't find my English homework, I did it, I know I did, but when I looked in my folder it wasn't there."

"Who gave you your folder?"

"Gavroche."

"So who do you think has it?"

Azelma sighed. "Gavroche. Thanks, Ep."

"Any time. Oh, and this is Marius. Marius, this is Azelma, my sister."

Marius held out his hand and Azelma shook it politely.

"Bonjour Azelma."

"Bonjour Monsuier."

"Call me Marius."

"Okay."

"So what English homework did you have to do?"

"We had to invent our own island and write a story about it, where a natural disaster happens. Our teacher said we could be as creative as we liked."

"What natural disaster did you have?"

"The mayor's magical cheese house melted and the people of the island had to be evacuated."

"You have an amazing imagination."

"Thank you Monsuier- I mean Marius." All of a sudden, Gavroche ran up to the group, Azelma's homework in his hand.

"Here." He gave the homework to Azelma, panting, out of breath from running, and ran out of the lunch hall.

"See you after school 'Zelma. Meet me outside the gates, okay?"

"Yep. Bye everyone!" She said, walking off.

"So Marius," Eponine started. "How have you enjoyed Hugo High so far?"

"It's great, but a little crazy."

"Oh Marius... Dear Marius... Today has been one of the most normal days I've ever had here."

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**That story Azelma wrote for homework? I actually wrote that. Don't judge, I came top in my English class with that story in year seven.**

**-Bunnii**


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors note: Everything from below this line was written by 'WeAllHaveAnEscape'.**

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A/N: Why hello there :) In regards to pairings, as we've had a couple of people ask, the definite go-aheads so far are Marius/Éponine and bits of Joly/Musichetta/Bossuet. It's more than likely some Enjolras/Grantaire will work their way in a little later on, plus some Jehan/Cosette (RainWillMakeTheFlowersGrow is responsible for my new-found love of that pairing...thank you!). Maybe we'll throw in an OC or two, but that will likely come later. For now, enjoy! :)

As a side note, nothing better than writing some fanfiction with Casino Royale (2006 version, Daniel Craig is "my Bond" as people say, the one I watched and enjoyed first, he's epic) in the background (plus Dame Judi Dench being the epic, sassy human being that is M. Always a bonus).

"So, how long is it until lunch finishes?"

"About half an hour."

"And is there always a rush to get seats?"

Éponine grinned. "Every day. You don't run, you don't sit."

"I suppose it's harder when you've got such a large group too."

She shrugged, leaning over to steal one of Courfeyrac's crisps and crunching down on it. "We've pretty much claimed this table, it's the only one that can seat us all. And as a side note, what subject have you got next?"

"Drama, room 113."

She nodded. "Me too, actually. Courf?"

"Mm?"

"You're in Drama next, right?"

"No, but 'Chetta and Joly are. Why, you and Marius there too?"

"We are."

Courfeyrac nodded, going back to his food.

"So, what are you doing in drama at the moment?"

She smiled. "Macbeth. We haven't started but at the end of the year each subject has a small presentation. Drama is doing a couple of excerpts from the play. I'm hoping to be Lady Macbeth. She's not my favourite character around but that's a good thing, being able to play characters you wouldn't necessarily be friends with in real life."

"That's a brilliant way of looking at things. Have you taken on main roles before?"

She shook her head. "No. Not yet. I've done secondary and supporting roles, but never a main."

"Well, I'm sure you'll do brilliantly. Maybe I should try?"

"For Lady Macbeth?" Éponine replied, with a chuckle. He gave her a playful swat on the arm, surprised when she flinched.

"Are you okay? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, I-"

"It's fine, I'm fine. I just-I hit it on a bookcase yesterday so it's a bit painful."

Marius wasn't sure he completely believed her, but went with it, not wanting to upset or offend her. "Sorry."

"It's okay. Worth it to picture you in a dress proclaiming your bloodstained hands to the nation" she said, her smile returning complete with dimples. "Well, I am a man of many talents" he replied with a wink, taking a sip of water.

Whilst their little exchange was going on, Musichetta, Bossuet and Joly had been watching. "Do you think she likes him already?"

Musichetta took a bite of pasta thoughtfully. "You know what she's like, trusts people too easily and they hurt her. But she keeps going. I just hope Marius doesn't end up hurting her more. But yes, she definitely likes him. Whether that'll develop into romantic feelings or not I'm not sure, she's open but hard to read. For now at least, they're getting on okay."

Bossuet leaned over and kissed first her, then Joly, taking a hand of each. "Well, if they start looking anything like us then we know something's up."

Joly gave a chuckle, kissing Musichetta quickly and tapping her hat, receiving a small but joking huff as she fixed the angle. "We will indeed."

The lunch bell soon went, and Marius and Éponine were weaving their way through the busy crowds, him keeping a light grasp on the hood of her hoodie to avoid getting left behind. Before too long they arrived at a large studio, which he presumed to be the drama room.

"So, the audition process is today?"

"Yes, but you didn't have to learn anything. You could still go for a part, if you want."

"I won't lie, I'm tempted."

"You should. It's only our class that's doing the drama presentation, and sadly we don't have that many guys, so everyone helps. You'll get a part, it just may not necessarily be a main one."

"Huh. Well. I think I'll stay backstage for now, to see how things go. I'll help you with lines though, if you want."

Éponine smiled, lining up with the others as a small, slightly plump woman with loose brown hair opened the door. "Chair and circle, don't bother with alphabetical today."

They picked up a chair each, sitting next to Joly and Musichetta. Marius was a little nervous, but for different reasons to Éponine, who was positively terrified. He was nervous at being in yet another new class with yet another group of new faces, whilst Éponine was nervous about her audition.

"So" their teacher began. "Show of hands, who's auditioning for a speaking role? Doesn't matter which one, if you don't have one in mind that's fine."

Éponine and about six others raised their hands, four girls and two boys. A third boy raised his hand, and Joly shrugged before raising one too, as there was more male roles.

"Anybody else?"

A couple more hands went up, a girl and a boy. Their teacher (who Marius then found out was named Madame Noble) nodded, and began handing out scripts.

"Ah, new today?"

"Yes, Madame, Marius Pontmercy. I was wondering if you would mind me helping Éponine with her lines?"

"Go ahead. We don't get much stage help, it's down to the teachers, so it's good to see you getting active. Not many boys help out, which is a pity."

"It's a shame, I agree."

She moved on, after having handed Marius, Éponine and Joly their scripts. "Pair up please, boys with girls, your audition pieces will be the highlighted discussion between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Remember what I've taught you, you have ten minutes to go over things."

Marius immediately looked to Éponine, who gave him a smile and stood up. "It's quieter by the window" she said, picking up her chair and beckoning for him to follow.

Before too long they were seated opposite each other, reading from said part of the script.

"How now, what news?"

Usually Éponine would have laughed at how different and almost awkward he sounded. But she was far too serious about her acting to let it divert her.

"He has almost supp'd: why have you left the chamber?"

"Hath he ask'd for me?"

They continued on until their sections were done. Already three pairs had been called through, and they soon heard Éponine's name.

Marius noticed she was shaking slightly, clearly nervous. So instead of giving her a pat on the back he decided to go for a hug, encasing her small frame tightly. She tensed at first, but he heard (and felt) her release a long and shaky breath as an arm tentatively wrapped around him too. "You're going to be fantastic, I know" he said gently. She stood back after about ten seconds, giving a small smile. "Thanks" she said, turning around and walking through to the side room, script tucked under her arm.

She emerged ten minutes later to a rather excited Marius, Joly and Musichetta. "How'd it go?" Joly asked, to which she shrugged. "Not sure. Okay, I think."

Musichetta leaned forwards to sweep her in to a hug. "I'm sure you did fine, hon. You've won competitions before, remember."

Éponine nodded, gratefully hugging her friend and being careful not to knock her hat to one side. When the girls eventually drew away, Marius nodded. "I agree with these two, I be you did brilliantly, Lady Éponine Macbeth."

She chuckled as the class was dismissed, tucking her pen behind her ear. The four of them walked out, Azelma waiting by the gates as promised. "I can't really hang around, I'm afraid. Dad'll get angr-worried if we're not back soon. Worried about Azelma."  
18 minutes ago

Marius frowned. He liked Éponine, but he wasn't sure she was being entirely truthful. Brushing it off for the time being, he said a quick goodbye to Azelma and was planning to say goodbye to Éponine when she gave him a hug, not unlike he'd given her earlier on in Drama. "Thanks, for earlier. You know, helping me with lines and that" she said. "Not a problem" came the reply, causing smiles from both.

"I'll see you three tomorrow" Éponine said, turning around and giving Azelma a smile as Gavroche ran up to them. The three siblings began the walk home, Éponine turning her head to give her friends another quick smile.

"So, Marius, where do you live?" Joly asked as Bossuet caught up with them. "Rue le Brun" Marius replied, to which Musichetta nodded. "We're not far then, may as well walk together."

"So, do you three live together?"

The trio nodded. "My parents are pretty stiff and a bit stuck-up, when they found I was in a three-person relationship they disowned me."

"Oh gosh, I'm sorry."

She shrugged. "Don't be, I'm much happier with my boys than I was with them."

"That's good, do what makes you happy."

"I do" she replied, linking hands with Bossuet and Joly. "So, Marius, you and Éponine seem to have bonded rather well" Joly piped up.

"Well, she's a nice girl and we get along well."

"Good. Word of advice though. Don't even think of treating her as weak, or dainty,or something to be protected or fussed over. She really will not thank you for it, she won't show weakness whatever the circumstances. She's had a rough time, so keep an eye out for her, like Courf does."

"What do you mean, a rough time?"

"Nothing, just that life hasn't been fantastic. I won't go in to any more detail, it's for her to say."

He nodded as they turned a corner. "She's talented with her acting."

"She is, isn't she? She's done a few local competitions and always places third or higher, and always gets good drama marks. It makes her happy, so she does it, really."

"So, what do you want to be?"

"Joly wants to be an epidemiologist, 'Chetta a dancer, and I'm not sure yet" Bossuet replied.

"Forgive me for asking, but what's an epidemiologist?"

"It's a person who studies diseases and parasites, what causes them, how they spread, how to treat them, things like that."

The four fell in to a comfortable silence as they reached the Rue le Brun, Marius saying his goodbyes as he headed up to his flat, reflecting on the days events. Things had gone well, he'd already made friends, met a few of his teachers, found the work challenging but not in a bad way and found a task to do. On the whole, a thoroughly good day.

Although he was already finding himself worrying a little about Éponine. It didn't sound like she meant 'worried' when she said her father would be, she was clearly underweight and she'd flinched when he went to give her a playful tap. But she'd seemed happy, despite not eating, and didn't show any signs of unhappiness.

Deciding he was reading too much in to it - after all, he'd only known her a day- he settled himself down on the sofa, taking out a book and losing himself in the pages of his favourite Sherlock Holmes.


	4. Chapter 4

**Authors note: Hi! This chapter was written by me! Also... I'm going on a cruise on Sunday... So from Sunday, no updates from me for two weeks. I'm sorry guys, I'm gonna feel really guilty on the way to the cruise ship. Then not at all when I get actually get on the ship.**

**Trigger warning for this chapter.**

**Again, with the 'Eponine' thing... no idea how to do the accent over the first 'E' on my laptop, just to let you know.**

* * *

Weeks had past, and Eponine and Marius had become great friends. Eponine sighed as she woke up, and checked the small, cracked alarm clock. 7:20, it read. She'd slept in twenty minutes late. She wondered why Azelma hadn't woken her, but realised she probably thought she would wake up soon.

Éponine put on some clothes, just a pair of leggings and a red jumper. She grabbed some toiletries, some shower gel, an old toothbrush and toothpaste, shampoo, towel, an old hairbrush with several bristles missing, a body polisher, and her razor. She also grabbed her books she needed for that day, and walked to a local campsite which was a street away.

She took off her clothes and showered quickly, using the camps showering facility to do so (camp had ended for the year; the door's were locked, but Eponine could climb very well) then dryed herself and her her hair with the towel. She put her clothes back on, dragged a brush through her hair and brushed her teeth. She sat down on a lone bench not too far away from the showers. She got the razor from the pile of things she was carrying, and held it to her arm, after rolling up her sleeve. She then took it away, wondering how much time she had. She pulled out her phone from her jumper pocket to check the time (a very old hang-me-down from Cosette, her parents didn't know about it, they would take it straight from her to sell). 8:01. School starts at 8:40. She had about ten minutes before she needed to start walking.

_'Just once'__, _Eponine thought to herself. _'You can cut once, and then get to school'_.

Eponine rolled up her sleeve, held the blade to her arm, and then dug it in. A cut appeared, and blood appeared. Eponine smiled. She made another one. And another.

_'Shit. This cut is really deep.' _Eponine thought to herself. She furiously wiped at her arm, but blood kept coming. Eponine sighed. She pulled down her sleeve (Thank god she had worn red) and ran back home with her toiletries. She dropped them off there, and ran back to collect her books, before walking to school.

After about half way through the journey, she started to get a throbbing in her arm, and a constant ache in her head. She looked at her shirt to find that the blood was showing through her clothing. She tried her best to ignore it and kept walking to school. As she walked to the gates, she saw Marius waiting for her.

"Hi, 'Ponine!"

"Hey Marius..."

"Eponine, your pale... what's wrong?" Marius held his hand to Eponine's forehead.

Eponine stumbled, and fell into his arms, before losing consciousness. Marius then saw the red on her sleeve.

"Oh god... 'Ponine..." He muttered, stroking her hair. "HELP! I NEED HELP, PLEASE!"

* * *

**Don't worry, she's not dead. Just unconscious from blood loss.**

**-Bunnii.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Authors note: Everything below this line was written by the amazing 'WeAllHaveAnEscape'.**

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A/N: Hello there, WeAllHaveAnEscape here. Rainbow-Bunnii is going to be away for two weeks so this may be the last update for that time (unless of course she slips in another chapter ;) ) Hope you enjoy!  
Also, for a little while, there's going to be a trigger warning for mentions of self-harm. Not sure how many chapters it'll cover, but it won't be the whole fic.

"What happened?"  
"I don't know, she just...collapsed!"  
Joly, Bossuet and Musichetta were now with Marius, surrounding Éponine. One of the school professors had come out too. "You there, Bossuet, call an ambulance."  
Bossuet obliged, swiftly punching the number in to his phone and waiting, giving the details. "Hugo Hi-sorry, I mean L'Academie de Victor Hugo. Outside the front gates. Okay. She's unconscious still. About ten minutes. Bleeding from her upper arm. Yes. Yep. Five minutes or so. Okay. Thanks."  
"They'll be here in about five minutes."  
Marius looked down at her again, still gently stroking her hair back from her face, which was still crumpled in pain despite not being conscious. "I'd like to go with her, in the ambulance. I found her, I might remember something."  
The remaining four nodded. Even though Marius had only been attending the school for ten days or so, he was already well-liked, and they could see he got on well with Éponine. "Let me give you my number. Sir Nicholas, may I keep my phone with me?"  
"Of course."  
Musichetta stepped forwards, putting her mobile number in to Marius' phone. It wasn't long before they could hear sirens in the distance, and true to their word, an ambulance soon appeared around the corner.  
The paramedics asked a couple of questions, Marius helping them lay Éponine down in the stretcher. It was at least six foot long, so he sat on it too, laying her head in his lap as he looked down at her lifeless expression. "Oh, 'Ponine" he muttered, hand returning to her hair once more.  
A nurse got in and sat herself in a chair opposite as they drive off. "I need to ask a couple of questions."  
"Go ahead."  
"When did you find her?"  
"Well, I didn't find her exactly. She was walking to school, and I saw her say goodbye to her siblings, and then she walked over to say hello. She was really pale though, much more than normal, and then she just collapsed as I caught her."  
"Okay. Do you know what could have caused it?"  
"Well, her upper arm was bleeding, although Joly, a friend of mine who studies medicine, used my jumper to bandage it, so it might have stopped."  
"And were these wounds caused by something, or self-inflicted?"  
He froze. It didn't cross his mind she might have done this to herself. He'd assumed he'd badly cut herself on something and not bothered to attend to it. He knew she wasn't in the best of situations, her (lack of) weight and worn, sometimes ripped clothes told him that, as well as the way she'd never talk about her home life. But could she be a self-harmer? He'd had her down as too sensible for that, although in fairness he'd only known her a couple of weeks.  
"I-I don't know."  
"Hmm. Well, she's underweight, certainly, which isn't good."  
"No."  
"We'll give her a thorough check when we get to the main hospital."  
"It's not that serious though, is it?"  
The nurse looked up from her scribblings at him. "She just passed out from blood loss, is underweight and has remained unconscious for fifteen minutes. Of course it's serious. We'll have to keep her in for a couple of days, most likely. If you're asking if it's dangerous, there is a threat, but she won't die or anything like that."  
"Good. Well, not good, but you know what I mean."  
As their conversation was ending, Éponine shifted slightly, clearly close to waking up. Her eyes began to flutter open, and Marius brushed the remaining hairs out of her eyes.

"M-Marius?"  
"Hey, 'Ponine."  
"Where am I?"  
"In the ambulance. You passed out from blood loss, apparently."  
'Damn', she thought. 'Does he know, or does he think something else happened, or what?'  
"How are you feeling?"  
"Dizzy-" she yawned "-and a little tired. And kind of sick too. Actually, I might need a bowl-"  
The nurse seated opposite was quick to react, grabbing a sick bowl and holding it out. Marius helped Éponine sit up in time as she began to vomit, rubbing between her shoulder blades and holding back her hair. "Ssh, you're alright" he said quietly, as she appeared to finish.  
The nurse placed a cloth over the bowl and placed it where she found it, just as the ambulance slowed down, having arrived. The doors were open, and Éponine tried to sit up, when Marius placed a hand on her shoulder, lowering her back down.  
"Don't try to sit up, you'll make yourself sick again."  
"I'm fine, stop fussing."  
He remembered Musichetta's previous words. Don't treat her like she's something to be protected or fussed over.  
"Sorry. I just don't want you vomiting again. You're strong, I know, but this is something beyond your control."  
She sighed as they took the stretcher out, Marius getting off, laying her head down gently and walking alongside her. "Is this really necessary?"  
"Yes. We don't want to take any chances."  
She nodded, letting her eyes close. Marius looked up at one of the doctors worriedly, but they simply shook their head, telling him not to worry.  
About an hour later, after they'd done a blood test, stitched up and attended to the wound, Éponine awoke. She could see Marius with his back to her, coughing to let him know she was awake.  
He turned around, a worried expression on his face. "How are you feeling?"  
"A bit better."  
"Um, 'Ponine..."  
"Mm?"  
"I know, about your...problem" he said quietly, gesturing to her arm.  
She sank back against her pillows, squeezing her eyes shut. Any kind of good impression she'd made on him was likely to go out of the window, in her mind. "Don't. Please don't."  
He said nothing, taking one of her hands. "Why do you do it?"  
"I don't want to talk about it."  
He was about to push her further, but decided against it. The poor girl was in hospital, she didn't need to be interrogated. Of course he wasn't going to let this go. How could he? It wasn't something you could just forget in an instant, or brush off as nothing. He'd bring it up again when she was better, although he knew it was going to trouble him.  
Realising he hadn't let the others know, he took out his phone and sent a quick text to Musichetta. "Éponine alright, keeping her in for a couple of nights, but she's awake and will be fine. Hates hospital already. Medical staff probably in for a chore keeping her in bed! Visitors allowed tomorrow if anyone wants to come. I'm staying overnight with her. Have let office know already. M."  
"Who was that?" Éponine asked curiously. "Musichetta, she was worried" he replied, placing his phone back in his pocket. She nodded, attempting to sit up and failing.  
He fluffed up her pillows and helped her shift backwards. "Better?"  
"Better. Shouldn't you be going though?"  
"I'm not leaving you alone here. Not after today."  
"Why? You hardly want to waste your time with me, I'm sure. What about your studies?"  
"You're far more important than a couple of essays. I can catch up. And I'm not 'wasting' my time. Don't push me away, not now."  
She nodded, admitting defeat. "I've still got the book from the library in my bag, Harry Potter and the Philosophers' Stone?"  
"Oh, sorry, I forgot to take it."  
"No problem. Would you like to read it?" 46 minutes ago

"Um, I was actually wondering if you could read it to me. I know how childish that sounds but my head still hurts and I don't know if I could concentrate" she gabbled. Marius nodded, gently taking it from her and pulling up a chair next to her bed. Kissing her forehead, he opened the page to where she'd marked it at the beginning of chapter seven.  
"The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald green robes stood there. She had a very stern face, and Harry's first thought was that this was someone not to cross..."  
As he continued reading, Éponine gave him a smile (which he returned) before letting herself relax, slipping off into a much-needed, deep sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's note: Hey everyone! So I was having a bit of trouble writing this chapter, so WeAllHaveAnEscape did me the favour of writing this chapter. Seeing as she wrote this chapter and the one before, I will be writing two chapters after this. Here's her authors note:**

* * *

A/N: We're baaaaack! :D Hope you enjoy :)

Still a trigger warning for discussions of self-harm.

I hope we're handling it okay. Not sure about Rainbow-Bunnii but I personally don't tend to write such serious stuff, I'm more of a fluff writer, so if anyone has ways to improve it during her recovery, then please don't be afraid to say :) And if there is anybody out there who is struggling to stop, these are all real methods, and I urge you to try them. Talk to somebody. The website I used as research was www . helpguide mental / self_ (remove spaces). It has resolution methods for different kinds of self-harm causes, the ones on that site are tension release and vent anger, feeling disconnected and/or numb, to calm or soothe yourself, and to express pain and/or intense emotion. Counselling is always a good option, it may be scary or frightening at first, but it pays off. Whilst self harm isn't something I have personal experience with, I have heard that it's worth it. Stay strong, because you can beat it. I promise you, dear reader.

* * *

**In reply to WeAllHaveAnEscape, I tend to write lots of fluff in my fic 'Shiz University One-Shot Library', but in nearly every other fic I write, there is a lot of angst, but fluff as well. :) Anyway, on with her lovely chapter! **

* * *

Éponine had been in hospital for five days now, and Marius hadn't left her side.

Courfeyrac bought them both the days work to do, which they were both grateful for. Marius would give Éponine a hand with her maths, which was her worst subject, and she'd help him with his science in return. They passed the evenings rather pleasantly, Marius usually nipping down to the hospital café to get them both a hot chocolate each.

She wasn't supposed to move about much, but Courfeyrac had smuggled her some of her own clothes he'd gotten off of Azelma, and Marius had persuaded the nurse to let them go down to the river for a bit, both eager for fresh air. Whilst Marius was used to spending time indoors, as his grandfather had ensured he spent the majority of his time studying, Éponine wasn't. She was the opposite; spending as much time away from her home as she could. So being trapped in the same place day after day had worn away at her patience.

She jumped up so violently she almost dislocated her shoulder when Marius told her they could leave. He'd smiled, handing her her clothes and turning away when she changed. They still hadn't discussed her problem, but he knew they needed too. What he was most worried about was why she did it.

It was clear her home life wasn't great - she could be a bit jumpy sometimes, and her size was worrying, plus he still hadn't forgotten the flinch that came with his playful tap on her arm. He'd always viewed her as being so optimistic, though who truly knows what goes on beneath the surface? Some people don't even know themselves, making it near impossible for somebody on the outside to guess what they're truly thinking.

He'd pushed the thought away for a bit, as Éponine absent-mindedly took his hand. He couldn't help a small blush rising, having had next to no contact with females before, and had always been seen as the bumbling idiot around women. But Éponine didn't seem to mind, and carried on talking as normal. They were still on the subject of science, Éponine testing him on his periodic table, which they'd spent the morning doing.

That was another thing he found admirable about her. A lot of others would have used the hospital as an excuse for no work, but Éponine was the opposite. She had told him that no matter what, she wanted to get at least seven good-grade exams, and she wasn't lying.

"Hmm...Mg?"

"Magnesium."

"Good. Hg?"

"Um...mercury?"

"Yep. P?"

"Either palladium or phosphorous."

"Take a guess."

"Erm...palladium?"

"Nope, phosphorous. Palladium is Pd" she told him, smiling as they reached the river.

"Close enough."

"Indeed."

They found a bench overlooking the waters and decided to stop for a bit. Marius drew a breath. If he didn't attempt to talk about it now, in a private area where they wouldn't be overheard, he wasn't sure when he would.

"Uh, 'Ponine?"

"Yes?"

"I-I think we should talk. About your...harming."

She looked up at him. "Please leave it."

"I can't. This is far too serious for me to brush aside. I care about you, and I want to help you stop, no matter how long it takes or how hard it is. As I said a week ago, don't push me away. Please."

He heard her sigh, considering. Should she talk about it? Would it help, or would it make things worse? If he knew certain details of her life, would he be disgusted, or scared? Or would he want to help? If he reported any of it, her father would...well, she didn't want to know what would happen to Marius. But despite her friend circle, who knew about her cutting? Nobody but Marius. In a way, that scared her, the fact that even Courfeyrac, who she'd known since she was five, still didn't know about her most private secret. And yet Marius, who she'd known maybe four, five weeks, did.

Not that she'd planned it.

"Fine. But I don't need a bloody counselling session. If I want to stop, we stop."

He sighed. "Fine. But only when you know you physically can't keep talking, because until that point, I need to know things in order to help."

She nodded. "Well...where do we start?"

It sounded so awkward, a slight tension hanging in the air. She hoped to God this wouldn't ruin their friendship. She really liked Marius, and she didn't want to lose him over her own insecurities.

"I suppose why you do it would be a start."

"I...it's hard to explain."

"Try. Just try. That's all I ask."

Éponine took a breath. "It's a coping mechanism. A way I let out my emotions. If I'm angry, I cut. If I'm badly upset, I cut. If I'm frustrated, lonely, sad, down, anything negative, I cut. It keeps me sane. I know it's not a good method, and I wouldn't recommend it to anybody. But it's how I cope."

"How long have you been doing it for?"

"Couple of years."

If Marius was shocked, he didn't show it, having already decided to keep things calm and fairly neutral to avoid upsetting her.

"And what makes you feel like that?"

"My home life."

"Do you mind going a bit further in to it? Or would you rather discuss it later?"

"Later. Today, but a bit later."

Marius nodded, reaching out to gently take one of her bony hands in his. "Why did you start?"

"The cutting part was accidental. Before, the only harming I'd done was when I got so frustrated with everything that I slammed my wrist in to a brick wall, and badly sprained it for three weeks. With the cutting, I was shaving whilst feeling down, and again, frustrated. I wasn't focussing properly, and the blade caught my skin. But whilst it hurt, it felt...no, good isn't the word, this isn't good, I know that. Relieving? I'm not sure. I did it again, and I just kept going. I wish to God I hadn't, but I did."

"So it started infrequently?"

"Yes."

"I see."

They fell in to silence, Éponine chewing on her lip. Part of her was telling her to stop talking, remembering she hadn't known Marius long, that she was saying too much. But the other part of her was telling her to trust him, to trust her instinct and keep going. Because if he could help, it would be worth it.

"Do you feel ready to talk about why? I don't want to push you in to this, but it's necessary."

"You're good at this."

"I studied psychology in my spare time."

She nodded. Breathing in deeply, she exhaled loudly. "Okay."

"So. Why?"

"As I said, my home life. I...my father...no..." she trailed off. Was she actually about to do this?

Marius remained quiet, knowing she needed time. It was clearly a big thing to her, baring her soul when she'd become so use to locking away emotion. Part of him just wanted to throw his arms around her and hug her until she felt better, until her problems disappeared, and she was content. But not only was that impossible, he knew it would offend her. She needed support, but nothing quite so melodramatic unless it was her that started it. As Musichetta had said, she didn't like coming across as weak. And though he didn't think she was, she did. So he had to be careful.

"My...my father is abusive."

He looked at her, still saying nothing, but seeing her eyes mist over slightly. "Verbally or physically?" he asked gently.

"Both."

She took another breath. "It started when I was nine. He'd made a bad investment, his gambling went down the drain, and we had nothing. He took it out on me first, I wouldn't let him near Gavroche and Azelma. It started with small things - shouting, a cuff 'round the head, a sharp pinch. But as I got older, things got worse. I was eleven when he hit me for the first time."

"Do you remember why?"

"Something trivial. I dropped a plate, I think, one of my mother's favourites. Even though I swept it up and cleared the area, I was met with a slap around my face that nearly knocked me over. I cried and he hit me again. He was drunk, though I suppose that's no excuse."

Marius ran his thumb over knuckles, taking her other hand and giving it what he hoped would be a reassuring squeeze. She flashed a small smile before her face darkened again.

"I guess it got worse from there. He was properly beating me by the time I was fifteen, which was when I started cutting. It hasn't stopped."

"May I see any injuries? Only if you want me to, of course."

"I'd rather not. Not yet."

"That's completely fine. It's enough you're talking about it."

"It's, well, it's verbal too. I'm used to the words, they can't hurt me. Well, they can, but not physically. Name calling, mostly. But there's one thing that frightens me the most."

Marius remained silent, waiting.

"He-he's always told me I have no hope of being an actress. He's told me I'm only good enough to be a whore, and that frightens me. Acting is my escape, and to be told that is horrible. I'd never be what he thinks I'll be though, I'd never sell my body. My purity...it's the one thing I have left."

Marius nodded, feeling genuinely close to tears. How could she live such a life and remain so positive? Did anybody else know what went on behind the scenes? He had a strong suspicion they didn't. "Can I hug you?" he asked, feeling it necessary to wait for permission before doing anything. She nodded, and he leaned forwards as he gently took her in his arms, holding her tightly. "I had no idea."

"I didn't expect you too, I've only known you just over a month, and I've always been told I'm very hard to read."

"You are. I just-I feel so useless now. And so fortunate. I always took my life for granted. Yes, my grandfather was strict, always keeping me inside and studying, but he never hurt me. And he gave me so much. And yet you've got this life that you don't deserve, whilst all I was upset about was how he never let me out of the house."

She gently drew back, looking directly in his eyes. "Never think your problems pale in comparison. Yeah, I've got it tougher than most, but that doesn't mean you can't be upset. I'd be upset if I was never allowed out, never allowed freedom. Please don't think anything that upsets or frustrates you is insignificant compared to other people's troubles. They may be worse, but that doesn't make yours less important."

In that moment, he could have kissed her. Even after all that she was still willing to listen, to help. "I suppose."

"You do" she replied, reaching forwards to hug him again.

When they eventually drew apart, he looked at her. "I think we need to consider how to help you recover now. I know you won't like this, but counselling is striking me as the right thing to do."

"Oh."

"I wouldn't say it if it wasn't necessary. But I think that'll be the fastest route, if we combine it with methods you do yourself."

She nodded, remaining tight-lipped. He continued.

"So, you cut because of strong and negative emotions like anger, correct?"

Another nod.

"We can start by getting you a stress ball. They're surprisingly effective, apparently. Again, it's not an overnight cure, but it will contribute."

"Okay."

"Then, you're going to come with me to the dump, where we're going to get rid of the razor blades, which I assume is what you use."

She was a lot more reluctant this time. It wasn't that she enjoyed it, she hated it. But harming had become such a routine that it was hard to walk away. She suddenly felt very vulnerable, and exposed, something she wasn't used to, or not so largely.

"We should make running daily a thing once you're out of hospital. Exercise is good, I believe. And if you still lust after the sensation, then use a red felt-tip pen where you would usually cut. I promise you we can get you through this, and we don't have to tell anybody you don't want to tell. Éponine Thénardier, I promise you we will beat this. Then we can deal with the cause."

"We?"

"Well, I'm hardly going to make you do it on your own. Anything you need, please feel free to talk to me about it. I'll do what I can, I promise."

Unexpectedly, Éponine leaned forwards and threw her scrawny arms around his neck, hugging him once more. She'd always been quick to trust, usually to have it thrown back in her face, but already Marius was willing to help, and he genuinely cared. She trusted him wholly, without doubt. "Thank you" she said quietly, as his strong arms came to wrap around her shoulder blades.

"Any time, 'Ponine. I think we should get back. I'll arrange counselling sessions as soon as you feel ready. But you have to be honest. Even if it's terrifying, if you feel you can do it then you must."

"Promise."

"Good."

Before too long they were back at the hospital. Much like on the first night, Marius was sitting reading the first Harry Potter book to Éponine as she slipped off to sleep (it had become quite a habit, though neither quite knew how). The only difference was that this time he was laying with her on her bed with his arm around her waist, quietly reading chapter sixteen aloud and thinking of how much it would be worth it when Éponine had finally recovered.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's note: Hi! So if you look back to the author's note I wrote before WeAllHaveAnEscape's chapter, because she wrote the last two chapters, I'll be writing the next chapter too, as well as this chapter.**

**Trigger warning as there are still some mentions of self harm, but the mentions aren't as strong as previous chapters.**

**Disclaimer: I totally own Les Misérables. (I'm lying)**

* * *

Éponine walked up to the gates of Hugo High, where Marius was waiting for her, as he promised.

"Ready?" Marius asked her. Éponine took a deep breath, and nodded.

"I think so."

Marius looked at Éponine. She was shaking slightly, and had tears in her eyes. He took one of her hands, and looked her straight in the eye.

"'Ponine, I know how hard it is for you, coming back to school after your situation. But even though I've known you a little over a month, your one of the strongest people I have ever met." Before he could stop himself, Marius gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Éponine and Marius just stared at eachother for a moment, lost in eachothers eyes.

"W-we should get to Maths," Éponine told him. "Perfect way to start a Monday morning." She said sarcastically.

Marius took Éponines hand as they walked to their first class.

* * *

Marius and Éponine didn't get a chance to see their group until lunch came.

"Ready?" Éponine asked him as they were about to leave their geography class.

"Ready."

"NOW!" Éponine yelled as they sprinted to their lunch table where the rest of the group were waiting for them. Cosette was the first to spot them and ran up to Éponine, pulling her into a tight hug.

"Éponine! I've missed you SO much!"

"I've missed you too, 'Sette."

Musichetta came up to her next, embracing her in a not-so-tight hug.

"Hi, Éponine."

"Hey Chetta."

Éponine and Marius said their greetings to the rest of the table, before sitting down. Éponine put her stack of books underneath her chair, except for her copy of Macbeth, which she started to read.

"When do you think the drama department will have the cast ready for that?"

"It normally takes about a month," Éponine explained. She looked away from her play and looked around the lunch hall. "Is it just me, or are people staring?"

Marius looked around the hall. People _were_ staring, and whispering too.

"Just ignore them."

Éponine continued reading, but it was clear she wasn't focussing, because when Marius looked at her, he could see her wiping a tear away.

Overcome with anger, Marius stood up and screamed: "HEY!"

"Marius, what are you doing?" Éponine whispered.

"STOP STARING AT ÉPONINE!"

"Marius, people are staring now-"

"YOU DON'T KNOW HER, YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT HER LIFE IS LIKE!" The students in the lunch hall sat there in silence, and turned away, not looking at any of the group.

"Marius... That was so sweet."

"I'm sorry if I embarrassed you there, it's just that they had no right to stare at you." Marius and Eponine hugged, ignoring the wolf whistles the boys gave them.

Marius hated the fact that his new friend had to go through all of this, and he knew that he probably didn't know the half of it. But what he _did _know was that he had to protect her.


	8. Chapter 8

**Authors note: Still mentions of self harm, a little trigger warning there.**

**This chapter was written by me.**

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Éponine groaned. It was taking everything to resist picking up the razor that was lying next to her. Éponine picked up her hang-me-down Mobile phone from Cosette, with about two francs worth of credit, and scrolled through her contacts list. She scrolled down her contacts list, but as she was looking for Musichetta, she saw that Marius had put his number into her phone. Without hesitation, she pressed the dial button.

Marius layed across his sofa, typing up the very last of his homework on his laptop. He took a sip of his coffee and took out a book to read.

_'I don't quite know,_

_How to say_

_How I feel._

_If I lay here,_

_If I just lay here,_

_Would you lie with me and,_

_Just forget the world.'_

Marius jumped, but then realised it was the ringtone he had set personally for Éponine, 'Chasing cars' by 'Snow Patrol'.

'_She found the number I put in.' _Marius thought to himself.

"Hi 'Ponine!"

"Marius..."

"Éponine, what's wrong? You sound upset."

"I'm getting the urge, t-to cut..."

Marius immeadiately got up and headed straight to the door. He had his mini laptop in his carry bag with him. He wanted to show Éponine something when he saw her.

"Éponine, I'm coming over. Don't do anything, I'll see you really soon."

* * *

Marius knocked on Éponine's door. The minute she opened it Marius pulled her into a hug, Which Éponine returned. She let him in, and they both sat on Éponine's bed.

"I want to show you something, " Marius told her. "Your seventeen like me, right?" Éponine nodded.

Marius took out his laptop and started typing.

"This is a website for under eighteens," He explained to her, showing the laptop. "The people who run the site help people all types of problems. There's a thing on this website where you can have a one to one chat with a trained professional. It's in the style of a text conversation. Wanna try it?"

"Okay."

Éponine clicked the button that said 'Wait for counsellor.' Marius and Éponine explored the website for a bit and in less then two minutes, something popped up on the screen saying: '_A counsellor is ready to talk to you.' _

"Do you want to be left alone to do this?"

"No, stay."

Éponine clicked the '_enter chatroom'_ option, and typed.

* * *

Guest: ...Hello, I'm Éponine.

Counsellor: Hi Éponine, my name is Janet. What would you like to talk about?

Guest: My self harm issues.

Counsellor: Okay, do you actually self harm or just think about it?

Guest: I've been doing it since I was fourteen.

Counsellor: And are you contacting here to try to get help?

Guest: Yes. I ended up in hospital over a week ago because I cut too deep.

Counsellor: I see... Why don't you try drawing a line on yourself with red pen if you get the urge?

Guest: I've tried that.

* * *

"Marius this is going nowhere."

"You could stay on for a bit longer, or log off, I don't mind."

Éponine pressed the 'exit' button and sighed.

"I think I might know a way to try to stop." Marius took a pen out of his pocket and drew a butterfly, writing his name by the butterfly.

"What is this for?"

"It's called 'The Butterfly Project'," Marius explained. "When you feel like you want to cut, take a marker, pen, or sharpies and draw a butterfly on your arm, hand or wrist. Name the butterfly after a loved one, or someone that really wants you to get better. You must let the butterfly fade naturally. NO scrubbing it off. If you cut before the butterfly is gone, you have killed it. If you don't cut, and the butterfly has faded away, it means the butterfly has flown away freely. If you have more than one butterfly, cutting kills all of them. Another person may draw them on you. These butterflies are extra special. Take good care of them."

Marius then drew a butterfly on his hand, and wrote 'Éponine' below it.

"People who don't self harm can still draw butterflies for support, and people who know someone who self harms name the butterfly after them."

Éponine wrapped her arms around Marius.

"Éponine Thenardier, I do believe I am a little bit in love with you."

Éponine looked into his eyes. He wasn't mocking her, he looked like he ment it.

Éponine leaned in, as did Marius, and shared a passionate kiss on the lips.

When they both pulled away, Éponine looked dased.

"What is it?"

"Nothing, it's just... That was my first kiss."

Marius smiled. It wasn't going to be easy getting Éponine to quit, but he sure as hell was going to help her stop for good.

* * *

**The Butterfly Project is a real thing. I first heard about it from my friend, so I looked it up. I'm wearing a few butterflies to show my support now. Please draw a butterfly to show your support, because someone out there really needs it. There's also something called the heart project, where you draw a heart, and every colour heart means something different. For example, red is self harm, I think green is an eating disorder, ect. I don't know as much about it as the butterfly project though.**

**The line Marius said to Éponine was based from the Les Misérables book. As Époninedied in the book, her last line was something like 'And M'suier Marius, I do believe I was a little bit in love with you.' It definately wasn't exactly that, but something along those lines.**

**Oh, and the ringtone Marius had for Éponine was 'Chasing cars' by 'Snow Patrol'. If you've never heard of it, YOUTUBE IT. YOUTUBE IT NOW.**

**-Bunnii**


	9. Chapter 9

**Authors note: Hey everyone. WeAllHaveAnEscape wrote this chapter, everything below this line she wrote.**

* * *

**A/N: WeAllHaveAnEscape here :) So I got a bit carried away writing this...hope you enjoy! Also, I only just realised I've been forgetting to put disclaimers in...so I OWN NOTHING. NOTHINGGGG. Yep. This is a kind of filler chapter, primarily fluff.**

* * *

**Still small mentions of self-harm.**

* * *

"Marius? Want to come?"

"Hmm?"

"We were planning on going swimming after school, Combeferre's parents work there so we get the pool reserved for two hours in the evenings once a month" Musichetta said.

He nodded, smiling, having been fondly watching Éponine across the hall, who was talking to Azelma. "Who else is going?"

"Me, Joly, Bossuet, Courfeyrac, Combeferre, Jehan, Cosette and Éponine."

The identical second he heard Éponine's name, he nodded. "I'll come."

He liked all of the group, and got along well with them, but he was most comfortable when Éponine was there. Perhaps it was her nature, perhaps it was that when she was with him, he knew she was safe, perhaps it was because of their new-found relationship. Whatever it was, if she was going, so was he.

They'd decided to keep it quiet at first, progressing slowly. Neither had been in a relationship before, and whilst they were happy, they were taking things slowly. Éponine had had some bad experiences with men in the past, so he would always ask her before doing anything. None of their friends knew yet, and Éponine sure as hell wasn't going to tell her family, not even her siblings in case they accidentally let it slip.

An hour later, with his swimming trunks on underneath a pair of trousers and a loose-fitting cotton shirt, Marius was waiting by the crossroads for her. Soon enough, Éponine appeared in a short-sleeved white cotton dress that fell to her knees, clinging around the torso and then falling free. Bought for a ninety-nine cents at a charity shop earlier that day, it was clearly one of the nicest things she had, and her hair had been thoroughly brushed through. She'd made an effort, he could tell, especially as he knew she wasn't one for dresses. Leggings and hoodies were more her thing. Despite the different style she'd gone for, she looked truly lovely. He smiled at her, touching her arm gently.

"You look beautiful. Shall we set off?"

She nodded, smiling up at him and blushing slightly at the compliment. Her father had told her she looked like an ugly whore before he staggered back to the pub, so the fact that the person she'd made an effort for in the first place thought she looked beautiful thoroughly brightened her day. He returned the smile as they walked to the bus stop, waiting for the 67. Éponine had scraped together enough for the fare there and back, glad they got the swimming free as there was no way she could have gotten thirteen euros in less than a day.

Before long the bus came around the corner. The two paid their fares and went to sit on the top deck, knowing it was at least half an hour until their stop. Being used to walking, Éponine hardly ever went on buses, and it was always a fun experience for her. Marius watched her with a small smile, finding it adorable how excited she was.

"Been swimming before?"

"Yeah. I went once or twice when I was younger, and I've swum in the lake loads of times so I know how to swim. Never been to a pool though."

He nodded as she leaned her head against his shoulder, kissing her head. "How's things going, trying to stop with the cutting?" he asked in a low voice. The top deck was deserted, but he felt like he should keep it quiet all the same.

"I haven't cut once this week. I wanted to but I stopped myself."

"Last week?"

"Nope."

"So it's going alright then? The butterfly method, it's working?"

She nodded. "Not there yet but nearly, I still keep wanting to, but I'm resisting. I set myself little challenges, see how long I can go. Every butterfly has remained alive so far."

"Well, tell you what, if you can go another two weeks without picking up a blade once, I'll take you out to dinner somewhere fancy. I've been saving, I can afford it."

She looked up at him in shock. "You don't want to do that."

"But I do. I can't imagine how hard this must be, when it's become a coping mechanism for you to depend on. You're doing so well, and you deserve a reward for it, however small."

A nod. "Okay. If you insist. Two more weeks."

"Yes. But that doesn't mean you can pick up a blade immediately after."

"I won't. Promise."

"On Azelma's life?"

"On Azelma's life" she replied immediately. He could see she was serious, she'd never bring her siblings in to something otherwise. "Good" he said, leaning down to kiss her gently.

Another ten minutes later and they'd arrived. Everyone else was there already, most having taken a taxi. Éponine took off her dress outside the pool, having already got a faded swimsuit on underneath. Marius did the same, offering to share a locker with her so that she didn't need to chip in to her bus fare, which she agreed to. He folded her dress neatly and placed it on top of his own clothes, letting his fingers linger on the fabric.

Before too long they'd stepped under the showers and were heading for the water. Éponine had to try hard not to stare at his exposed torso. He was fit, owning a faint outline of a six-pack and a rather nice chest, if she said so herself. Tearing her eyes away from his body, she looked at him. "Double dive?"

Marius didn't have time to think of what Éponine meant before she'd taken his hand and they were both running for the water, jumping in at the same time with a huge splash. The others were still getting changed for some reason (although they rather suspected Musichetta, Joly and Bossuet had gotten a little distracted). He was realising then just how thin she really was, but tried to avert his eyes from her body whilst she was looking at him, not wanting to seem dodgy or unnerving.

He could see what she meant when she said she could swim. She was better than him by far, easily covering the length of the pool in under a minute. He assumed it was because she was used to the slightly rougher waters of the lakes rather than the undisturbed smoothness of the pool. She dived underneath gracefully, swimming under for the entire length of the pool, surfacing and taking a few deep breaths before turning around. Just as she was about to swim past, he gently grabbed her waist and spun her around, making her laugh. "Can you float?" he asked her, letting her feet touch the bottom of the pool again. She shook her head. "For some reason, no. My hips sink under the water."

"It's very relaxing. Here."

Marius wrapped his arms around her tiny waist so that her back was against his chest, and let himself float, her on top of him. She was by far light enough for them not to sink, and he closed his eyes, letting the two of them bob around.

"This is lovely. I've never floated before" she said contentedly, leaning in to him and closing her own eyes. His arms remained around her waist tightly, to stop her over balancing and falling in to the water. They remained like that peacefully, just drifting around the pool.

Five minutes later they heard the others appearing. Éponine had actually fallen asleep, having not felt so relaxed in years. Marius kissed her head and gently stood her up in the shallow end, waking her just as the others came in. "What happened?"

"We were floating and you fell asleep."

She nodded. "It was really nice. Thank you."

"Any time" he said with a smile, as they swam towards where the others were.

An hour and a half of teasing, splashing, diving and swimming later, they were all thoroughly exhausted. Heading back through to the changing rooms, Éponine took her dress and some underwear she'd slipped in to the pockets and went to get dressed, Marius doing the same as he walked through to the male changing areas.

Musichetta went over to Éponine, both girls already dressed. "You had fun tonight" she said in a low voice, smirking a little. "Of course I did, I haven't been to a pool before" Éponine replied innocently, though there was an undertone to her voice which suggested she knew precisely what Musichetta was talking about.

"You know what I mean."

"Marius and I are just friends." Éponine didn't want to have to lie to her friend, but at the same time, they wanted to keep things private, for now at least.

"Of course."

"We are, 'Chetta! Just because you've got two men doesn't mean everyone else needs one" she replied with a smile and an eye roll.

"If you insist..."

"I do. Go bother Cosette, she was getting pretty cosy with Jehan, thank you very much."

As Cosette finished changing, the three waited outside for the boys. Marius was the first to appear, followed by Joly, Jehan and Bossuet. Courfeyrac and Combeferre emerged last, and they walked out of the entrance, surprised at the temperature drop.

As everybody began to depart, Marius and Éponine began to walk to the bus stop. She was shivering slightly, and he noticed, wrapping his arms around her and rubbing his hands up hers. She smiled up at him gratefully, teeth chattering a little.

"There's another bus in an hour, if you want to stop somewhere."

"No, I couldn't. You must want to get back."

"'Ponine, I don't mind. I'm already starving."

"Okay, as long as you want to stop and eat as well."

"I do."

She smiled, linking an arm through his. "Where did you have in mind?"

"There's an Italian place nearby, does lovely pizzas."

"Oh, I've had pizza before. It's really good."

"That it is."

They walked in a comfortable silence, Éponine's head once more finding his shoulder. The restaurant he meant was about ten minutes away, and whilst it wasn't posh by any means, it was clearly rather nice, and looked far too grand in Éponine's eyes.

"I can't go in there!"

"Why not?"

"It's too grand for the likes of me. People will laugh. They'll wonder what the street rat's doing there. I'm worthless to them. You wouldn't want to be seen with me in such an establishment, it'll ruin your reputation."

Marius turned to face her, placing a hand on each shoulder. "I don't give a damn what other people think. You're beautiful, you're funny, you're a kind person and I'd be honoured to be seen with you, any time, any place. You mustn't let your father or other people tell you otherwise. You are _not_worthless. You are _not_ a street rat. I wouldn't want to be seen with anybody else."

She looked up at him, miserably failing at trying to hold back the emotion ringing in her voice as she spoke. "Excuse me for sounding like a young adult romance writer, but that's the nicest thing anybody's ever said to me."

"It's true. Now come on, none of this nonsense. They're all regular people, remember. Just because they have a little more money than you do, does not mean they retain the rights to look down at you for who you are."

She nodded, looking at the floor. He placed four fingers under her bony chin and gently tilted her head upwards. "Chin up, missy" he said with a smile, leaning down to press his lips to hers tenderly.

Before too long they were seated opposite each other and looking at the menu.

"How hungry are you, 'Ponine? And I want the truth. Money isn't a problem, my grandfather sent me my allowance yesterday. I don't want you to hold back, even if it's the most expensive thing on the menu. You clearly don't eat enough, so tonight you're going to. Okay?"

She nodded. "If you want the truth, I'm ravenous."

"When did you last eat?"

"Tuesday lunch?"

"It's Thursday. You haven't eaten in two days?!"

"Well, I had a couple of Courf's crisps, and Musichetta gave me a biscuit, but that's about it. Oh, wait, I had a third of a bread roll with Gavroche and Azelma before school this morning, the baker gives us a stale one every now and then."

"Please tell me you've eaten something else."

"Why?"

"Because that's nowhere near enough for you to survive on."

"Well I have been, so clearly it is."

He said nothing. "How about we get a large pizza to share with some garlic bread on the side?"

She smiled. "Sounds good, what toppings?"

"Whatever you want."

"Okay. Um, what about four cheese, ham and bacon?"

"Perfect. Thin crust?"

"Naturally."

They placed their orders with the waiter, both opting for some lemonade. Éponine had never had it before, and Marius watched fondly as she experimented, letting out a chuckle as the bubbles dissolved on her tongue, leaving the fizzing sensation. He started nibbling on a breadstick, offering them to Éponine, who shook her head. "After" she said simply, looking at the table.

He reached over and placed a hand on top of one of hers. She looked up at him with a smile, which he returned.

"One large pizza with garlic bread, enjoy your meal" the waiter said unexpectedly. Éponine reached forwards to take a slice of the pizza, looking at Marius as if asking for permission. "May I?"

"You don't need to ask, 'Ponine, of course you can eat. Don't wait for orders."

She nodded, taking an experimental bite before deciding she liked it and taking a huge one. Clearly she'd been truthful when she said she hadn't eaten properly since Tuesday. He watched her with an expression of sorrow. How could she get by on so little? He picked up some garlic bread and ate it slowly as she reached for her second slice, having hungrily devoured the first one. "Slow down, 'Ponine, I don't want you getting sick" he told her gently to which she nodded, shrinking the size of her bites.

Twenty minutes later and she'd eaten five slices of pizza , seven breadsticks and three slices of garlic bread, full for for the first time in years. "That was gorgeous. Thank you."

Marius smiled, finishing the last of his slices. He'd gone without one, as there had been eight, but hadn't cared. She needed it more than he did, anyway. "So, do you want some dessert, or...?"

"There's dessert and you didn't tell me?"

"Sorry, I forgot you don't really go to restaurants."

"It's fine, I don't think I could have eaten much anyway, I'm stuffed."

He nodded, paying their bill. "Little walk then, stop indigestion?"

"I'm up for it."

Marius nodded, walking around the table to pull her chair out as she stood up, causing a smile. "Ever the gentleman."

"Of course."

Five minutes later they were walking by the Seine, not far from Éponine's house. Marius had tucked an arm around her waist as they strolled. "Are you sure about going back to yours? You could always stay the night at my flat."

"I don't want to, but I can't leave Gavroche and Azelma alone with my father, if he's drunk."

"Wait, he's not home yet?"

"Not usually."

"Why not go and get them, drop them off at Courfeyrac's?"

"Wouldn't he mind?"

"I doubt it, he said himself he misses them."

"Well, okay, I guess."

It didn't take long for Gavroche and Azelma to have joined them. Gavroche was beside himself, excited to see Courfeyrac again. Azelma was pretty passive about it, glad to be out of any possible danger and looking forwards to spending some time with their friend, but had her nose stuck in a book ("Ember Fury" by Cathy Brett, about a slightly depressed teenage pyromaniac fresh out of therapy, probably not the most suitable book for a ten year old, but she seemed to be enjoying it) so didn't really say much.

Courfeyrac had agreed to take them in immediately, like Marius said, he'd missed them. Sure, he saw them at the school every day, but it wasn't the same. Éponine said her goodbyes to her siblings, and Marius led the way back to his flat, gently slinging an arm around her shoulders as they walked.

Just from the outside of the block, Éponine could tell his flat was far nicer than hers  
And she was right. He had a one-bedroom, four-roomed home with rather stylish furniture and gorgeous painting colours. A large television sat opposite the end of the sofa, another sofa at a right angle to the first. His kitchen was immaculate, with pine wood cupboards and marble slated surfaces. His bathroom was practically shining, his bedroom tidy (with the exception of his desk, which was littered with almost everything under the sun), and Éponine could not believe her eyes.

Her home was two rooms to share between four. The flat was separated in two areas, Éponine and her siblings were only allowed in one, no matter the circumstances. She had no bed, no sofa, no television. She slept with Azelma and Gavroche on a tiny pallet which was so broken it would be more comfortable to sleep on the floor. She'd put hay on it to try and help, but if anything it made it worse. Her parents had their own room, which was far better, the one they could not set foot in. They had a double bed and a small television, an armchair and a few other bits and pieces that they did not let their children use (though secretly their offspring had used the television a couple of times when both parents were out). Whenever Marius came over, she led him straight through to her parents' room, never giving him time to see where she slept in case he worried.

So upon seeing Marius' flat...well, it was quite possibly the nicest place she'd ever been to. She felt so out of place, not wanting to sit down for fear of ruining the furniture. He walked through to the kitchen, her following. "Want anything to drink?" he asked, to which she said nothing. "'Ponine?"

"Sorry. Just thinking. I'd love one, if you don't mind."

"Of course I don't mind. Why would I?"

"Resources wasted."

"They're not wasted, we've been over this."

She remained silent, looking at the clock. "It's eleven already?"

"We spent at least three hours at the pizza place, then two at the pool after school, it doesn't surprise me. I think we should be getting to sleep soon, as we're both going to school tomorrow."

She nodded. Marius poured two glasses of water and walked through to the bedroom, swapping his shirt but leaving his sweats on. Éponine wasn't sure what to do, not wanting to sleep in her dress. That was solved when Marius walked over with one of his t-shirts. It was rather oversized on her, falling down to her knees loosely. Comfortable, though.

As Marius sat down on the bed, she lay on the carpet on the floor beside it, realising that, in fact, it was comfier than her shared pallet. But Marius looked at her in confusion.

"Wh-what are you doing?"

"Going to sleep, obviously."

"Down there?"

"Well, of course."

"Why? I mean, if you don't want to share my bed then it's fine, since I know you wanted to take things slowly, but I was kind of thinking you would."

"Me? Share your bed? Are you insane? You don't want me there."

"Yes I do. I do want you to share my bed, and I don't want you on the floor. Come on."

He extended a hand, which she took, slightly bewildered. He sat next to her on the bed as she tried the mattress. "This is so comfortable..." she trailed off, leaning her head against him. He chuckled, kissing her temple and shuffling over to his side, slipping under the duvet. Éponine did the same, taking her shoes off first, and lying her head on the pillow opposite his.

"Come here, you."

She happily obliged, shuffling closer and closer until her head lay on his chest, a skinny arm draped around his stomach. His arm went around her shoulder, hand resting on her shoulder blades and his other resting lightly on her waist. "Night, 'Ponine" he said softly, kissing her head with the utmost tenderness, leaving his lips on her hair for at least a minute, before gently pulling them away and drawing her closer to him. He ended up letting his hand settle on her lower back, kissing her forehead one more time before they went to sleep. "Night, Marius" she mumbled, fatigue already claiming her. He wondered the last time she slept properly was - she was a very guarded person, always on the lookout for possible threats, so if her siblings were with her she probably spent most of her nights watching them. Come to think of it, she had rather heavy, dark bags under her eyes which could only be caused by lack of sleep.

He watched her close her eyes, slipping off in to slumber, pressing one last kiss to her hairline. She looked so different when she slept, more thirteen than seventeen. Her face was relaxed, not a single muscle tensed, and her cheeks were slightly flushed. Her lips had turned upwards in a small smile, and he had the urge to lean down and capture them with his own once more. Her lips were a little chapped, but underneath looked rather soft, if a little pale, and he gently traced his thumb over them. Her eyelashes swept the top of her cheeks, looking longer than they did when she was awake. Her hair showed no signs of grease, though perhaps the chlorine in the pool had prevented it. Although her hair never looked greasy full stop, so really it was no different than before. She had what couldn't be defined as a side fringe, but a few hairs that fell across her forehead, which he gently brushed away. Her skin was slightly tanned, and clear, a single freckle on the top left side of her brow, but nothing more. All in all, she was truly beautiful, and it saddened him that she could not see that.

"You still awake?" he whispered, receiving no response. "'Ponine, are you awake?"

Again, no answer. Her breaths were long and far apart, chest rising and falling rhythmically.

"Well, if you're still awake, then you are absolutely beautiful both in and out. No matter what anybody else thinks, you are, okay?"

"Mmkay, whatever you say" he heard her sleepily mumble. "Now let me go back to sleep, I haven't slept so comfortably in years."

Pressing another kiss to her forehead, he smiled. "Go to sleep, love. You need it."

She smiled in to the darkness. For the first time in her life, she felt truly wanted. Loved. It was a new experience for her, she'd only ever experienced the love of her siblings before. And now somebody loved her for her, not what they could do to or with her. It was a pleasant feeling, and one that she most definitely wanted to get used to.


	10. Chapter 10

**Authors note: Hey Mizzies! Rainbow-bunnii here! Sorry for the late update! I need to stop putting exclamation points after every sentance! Sorry. Seriously though, please understand I have 9 other fics on my profile and about 6 or 7 out of them are uncompleated, so, yeah.**

**Things are really rough and scary at the moment, tomorrow I find out what part I've gotten in the production in my drama group, and I'm really upset about something else and I'm just really stressed, sad and angry at the moment, so please don't beg for updates the minute I've published something, it'll just stress me out more. I hope you understand why this is so short.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Les Miz.**

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"Hey there monsieur, what's new with you?" Eponine greeted as she approached Marius. She sat next to him on the bench he was sat on. Marius wrapped his arm over Eponine as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Oh, nothing. How are you?"

"Oh, good."

"Actually, I meant, doing okay?"

"Oh, that. Fine actually, every butterfly has flown away and the urges are less and less frequent."

"I'm very proud of you! Hey, it's eight twenty, we have to be at our first class in ten minutes."

Eponine groaned.

"Ugh, maths."

Marius chuckled and stood up, holding his hand out for Eponine to take. They walked to the maths block together, but not before sharing a passionate kiss.

Little did they know that Azelma was hiding behind a tree with a camera.

* * *

Eponine was lying on her bed when she heard a faint noise coming from her mobile.

_Back in the game,_

_Back in the pray,_

_Back the hell outta her way!_

_To represent me, you gotta be_

_LEGALLY BLONDE!_

Eponine smiled. Legally blonde the musical. That meant Cosette was calling.

"Hi 'Sette."

"'Ponine! How come you didn't tell me?! I'm so happy for you, but still, I'm kinda offended I didn't know!"

"Cosette, what are you on about?"

"Come over." The line went dead.

* * *

Eponine sat next to Cosette who had her laptop open. Eponine paled when she saw what she was on.

Cosette was logged onto Facebook, and at the top of the page was a picture of Marius and Eponine kissing from earlier that day, which was uploaded by no other then Azelma.

"Can I borrow this for a second?" Eponine gestured to the laptop. Cosette nodded. Eponine logged Cosette off and accessed her own account. She looked up Azelma's account and sent a message.

_Why the hell is this on Facebook?_

_Because I have a picture and an account._

_Why do you have an account? Your twelve. You need to be thirteen for Facebook._

_Technically, I'm thirteen in three months._

_How did you manage to get the picture?_

_Marius lent me his camera._

_Damn it Marius!_

_Keep going out with him, he's a keeper. _

_Well, I'm going to go and see how many people know about this now. I want your account de-activated until you actually reach thirteen. It's illegal to post photos of people online when they don't know, or don't want them displayed publicly._

_Bye, Ep._

"Um, Eponine?"

"Yes, Cosette?"

"You might want to check how many people have 'liked' this photo."

Eponine wailed when she found out her whole group of friends, plus Azelma and Gavroche ("Gav has facebook too!? I'll be having a word with him.") had viewed the photo. She typed up a message to Marius.

_Have you seen it?_

_Yep._

_This, my dear, is what happens when we lend Azelma things._

_I didn't think she'd do that. _

_Well, I guess the secrets out._

_I guess it is._

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**I just realised I forgot the accent on the 'E'. Oh.**

**-Bunnii.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's note: Hi everybody! Everything below the line is written by WeAllHaveAnEscape. I gotta say, I always feel privileged getting to be the first one to read these chapters of hers, I love her writing. :) **

**Disclaimer: Pretty sure that two british teens don't own Les Miz. :)**

* * *

**A/N: Helloooo. WeAllHaveAnEscape here, bringing you a rather late chapter as I attempt to get back in to writing. Not as long as some of my others but hope you enjoy anyway :)**

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"So, what are you going to do?"

Éponine looked up at Cosette. "I'm going home and getting my absolute idiot of a sister to take that down. And her account for that matter."

"Are you sure that's a-"

"Yes, I am. I'll see you tomorrow."

Cosette hardly got a chance to say goodbye before Éponine had broken in to a run back through to her flat, where she knew Azelma would be. Opening the door she walked straight over to her sister, who looked up at her. "Oh, hello."

"Don't you 'hello' me. You know what you've done. Take that down immediately."

"Take what down?"

Éponine scoffed. "Don't you dare give me that. You know what."

Azelma smirked slightly. "Why, you angry that your little secret's out?"

"Yes, I bloody well am. You have absolutely no rights to do that, especially after being asked to remove it, because I am fully within my rights to report you to the police."

"You wouldn't."

"Try me."

Azelma looked up at her. "Fine. I'll get rid of it."

"Well, come on then."

She sighed, following her sister down to the library computers. "You're lucky I've got too much sense to tell our dearest father about this."

That sped Azelma up. "I'm sorry, Éponine."

"You should be. My personal life is none of your business."

"I am your sister."

"I don't give a damn who you are, what's private is private."

"Why do you care so much?"

Éponine stopped. "Why do I care so much?" she repeated. "Because if this gets back to Papa then I don't know who's going to come off worse, me or Marius. He'll be absolutely furious if he finds out, and you know that. I also have the rights to my own life without my idiotic sister interfering with everything!" "I'm sorry Ép!"

"Good! Now hurry up, because if it's closed by the time we get there I think I'm in danger of screaming!"

Azelma broke in to a run, not wanting to annoy her sister further. Éponine was a very private person, she knew that, but it was just one picture. How damaging could it be?

When they reached the library, they were relieved to find it open. Éponine stood over Azelma like a jailer as she deleted first the picture and then her account. She sat down and logged in to her email account too, going to settings and typing in Azelma's address and password.

"What did you just do?"

"Synced my emails to yours. I'll receive copies of your emails now. I promise not to read any personal ones, but this means I'll know if you're back on any social media sites that you shouldn't be on."

"That's not fair!"

"Neither is uploading a private photograph of your sister where everyone can see it, especially when she doesn't know! You brought this on yourself, when you're thirteen I'll remove it, but not a day before."

Azelma said nothing, storming after Éponine as they headed back.

Sisters could be so annoying.

* * *

After dropping Azelma home and making her promise not to do anything like that again (plus telling her to go to Courfeyrac if anything happened, as always), Éponine grabbed her phone and quickly texted Marius.

_Mind if I come over? x_

_Of course not, something happened? x_

_Not anything else, no x_

_Okay, good x_

_See you in five x_

Shoving it back in her pocket, she picked up a jog. She'd left twenty euros from her paper rounds on the table for her father, and some chocolate she'd bought for Azelma and Gavroche before heading out, feeling it would be better to tell Marius in person. It took her almost no time at all to reach his block and ran up the stairs, knocking on the door.

Marius opened it quickly, letting her in and kissing her cheek. "Everything alright?" he asked, closing the door as she sighed. "Kind of. I've gotten her to take the picture down and delete her account, and synced our emails so I'll know if she's back on there, but looks like the damage is done."

"Tell me about it. I've already counted fifteen texts on whether it's true or not."

"Don't get me started on Grantaire. I think Musichetta's keeping Joly and Bossuet away from their phones, since I've not heard anything, but even Enjolras has been wanting to know more."

They sighed in unison, Marius gently pulling her in to a hug. "Meet me here tomorrow instead of by the gates, I think it'll be easier if we face them together instead of separately."

She nodded. "I will. I just...God, I'm so angry with her. She knows I hate having my photo taken anyway, so in that situation...ugh."

"Why do you hate having your photo taken?"

She shrugged. "I just don't like photos of me very much."

"Fair enough" he replied, as he felt his phone buzz. "Oh, for goodness' sake" he muttered, releasing her to check who it was.

"Grantaire again, this time asking when the wedding is. Very funny."

Éponine flopped down on the sofa. "This has gone very soap opera, hasn't it?"

"It has. I feel like I'm in an episode of EastEnders."

"Are we overreacting a bit?"

"Probably."

Marius poured two glasses of water and settled himself next to her, tipping a bag of crisps in to a bowl and putting them on the table in front of them. Éponine reached forwards, looking at Marius, who nodded and smiled. "You know you don't have to ask me when to eat, right?"

Éponine shrugged, her mouth full of ready salted crisps. Swallowing them, she took another couple. "Well, I always have to ask for food at home rather than just eating it, so it seems polite to do the same here."

"Well, you don't need to, not around me."

"Okay."

"So. School tomorrow."

They sighed simultaneously. "We could always try and get there early, I don't mind waking up, then get to class before the others? That way they can't make a big fuss" Éponine suggested. Marius nodded.

"Okay. Well, I usually get there before everyone else at eight, so if we aim to get there at half seven, meet me here at seven?"

"Sounds like a plan. I wish I could stay longer but I need to get back, keep an eye on Azelma and Gavroche, make sure nothing else like this happens."

"Okay. Do you want to take the rest of the crisps home?"

"No, I'll be okay. Bit risky too."

"Alright. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow" Éponine replied with a smile, quickly giving him a peck on the lips before disappearing out of the door, silently hoping they had a day off instead.


	12. Chapter 12

**Authors note: Hi everybody! Bunnii here! Um... not really much else to say. Oh yeah, my friend Caitlin suggested an idea of the chapter being told through texts, but I didn't know how to write the whole chapter just using texts. Anyway though, I thought it was a great idea and she deserves credit, a shout out, and a virtual cookie, so thanks Cait! (::)**

**I'm typing this downstairs on the iPad and I can hear Unchained Melody playing on the radio upstairs! :D Sorry, I just love that song very much. I went to see 'Ghost' the musical in April and cried until there were no tears left. (Word of advice: Don't wear a nice white top and mascara to an emotional musical!) Such a beautiful show... Sorry, I'll stop going on about unrelated musicals now.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Les Miz.**

* * *

Marius sighed as he felt the phone in his pocket vibrate for the thirteenth time. He was only twenty minutes into his first lesson, for goodness sake!

_'Sup luvr boy. :))'_

**_'Grantaire, are you drunk?'_**

_'Naaw... Well, mayb jus a lil bit. ;) I bring a watr botle 2 school, no one ever said it holded water. How didya gess?'_

_**'Your spelling is awful.'** _

_Hehe._

**_Please leave me alone to concentrate on my science._**

_KK._

* * *

Jehan felt his phone vibrate. He subtly took it out, making sure the teacher wasn't looking, and read the message Cosette had sent him.

**Meponine.**

_What the hell is Meponine?_

**The names of the happy couple put together. Meponine.**

_Then shouldn't there be an accent over the 'E'?_

**No, it's okay when the names are smushed together.**

_Well okay then._

* * *

**God Marius, they're acting like they've never seen two people in a relationship before.**

_I know 'Ponine, but they'll move on to something else soon. There's never a boring day at this school._

**Yeah, your right. Wanna meet at break under the tree? I think they posted the cast list for Macbeth.**

_Of course._

* * *

Marius went over to see Éponine. He thought he saw tears in her eyes, but thought it must be something else. Éponine hardly ever cries.

" 'Ponine, are you okay?"

"Hmm? Oh, y-yeah."

"Is that _blood _on your sleeve?"

"No, of course not!"

"Okay then, shall we go have a look outside the Drama department?"

"We shall."

Éponine held Marius' hand as they walked to see the cast list. Éponine looked at it in shock.

"Congratulations Lady Macbeth!"


End file.
